PRESENT: Chairman Friedman, Councilor Perkins, Councilor King, Councilor Parker, Councilor Olson, Manager W. Reed, Deputy Clerk K. Morin, Office Administrator J. Reed, Police Chief M. Leonard, Fire Chief G. Martin, Recreation Director R. Young, Public Works Director B. Stoyell
ITEM 1. The August 29, 2011 Veazie Town Council meeting was called to order at 7:00PM.
ITEM 2. Consideration of the Minutes
Motion By: Councilor King—to accept the August 15, 2011 meeting minutes as written. Seconded: Councilor Parker, Voted 5-0 in favor.
ITEM 3. Consideration of Agenda
Donald MacKay wished to add a thank you letter from the Conservation Commission.
Chairman Friedman stated he would like to remove item 5b from the agenda and discuss it at a later date. Councilor Perkins stated he would like to see it withdrawn because of possible pending litigation. Councilor King, Councilor Parker and Councilor Olson were all in agreement to withdraw the item.
ITEM 4. Comments from the Public
Member of the public Patrick Joyce inquired about renter liability. He outlined that in his neighborhood there is a house that is rented by college students and there seems to be a lot of speeding cars. He outlined that in Orono they passed an ordinance regarding renters. Manager Reed outlined that the Town of Veazie did not have a renters ordinance. He stated that he would talk with the town manager of Orono and see what their ordinance entails.
Member of the public Patrick Joyce inquired about real estate taxes and how to go about getting a rebate back. Manager Reed outlined that there is a statute of limitations on abatements, after that it’s a committed tax. Manager Reed recommended he speak with the new assessor.
ITEM 5a. Appointments - Action
Motion By: Councilor Perkins—to appoint Patricia Rice to the position of Budget Committee member for a three year term expiring June 30, 2014. Seconded: Councilor King, Voted 4-1 in favor.
Motion By: Councilor Perkins—to appoint Patrick Joyce to the position of Budget Committee member for a three year term expiring June 30, 2014. Seconded: Chairman Friedman, Voted 5-0 in favor.
Motion By: Councilor Perkins—to appoint Charles Osgood to the position of Budget Committee member for a three year term expiring June 30, 2014. Seconded: Councilor King, Voted 4-1 in favor.
Motion By: Councilor Perkins—to appoint Roderick Hathaway to the position of Associate Budget Committee member for a one year term expiring June 30, 2012. Seconded: Councilor Olson. Voted 4-1 in favor.
Motion By: Councilor King—to appoint Marilynn Bishop to the position of Associate Budget Committee member for a one year term expiring June 30, 2012. Seconded: Councilor Olson, Voted 2-3, motion fails.
Motion By: Councilor Perkins—to appoint Charles Osgood to the position of Planning Board associate member for a one year term expiring on June 30, 2012. Seconded: Councilor Olson, Voted 4-1 in favor.
Motion By: Councilor Perkins—to appoint Carolyn Hathaway and James Killarney to the position of Conservation Commission member for a three year term expiring on June 30, 2014. Seconded: Councilor King, Voted 5-0 in favor.
Motion By: Chairman Friedman—to appoint Robert Rice to the position of Board of Appeals member for a three year term expiring on June 30, 2014. Seconded: Councilor Parker, Voted 5-0 in favor.
ITEM 5b. Thank You Letters
Removed from agenda.
ITEM 5c. Community Center Letter - Discussion
Manager Reed stated that Councilor Parker had asked that this be placed on the agenda.
Councilor Parker was concerned with a comment from Mr. Kennedy to Deputy Treasurer Julie Reed regarding the Town having to start paying him for the Veazie kids to continue to be able to come to the school at a reduced rate once the portion the Town uses to offset his back rent expires.
Manager Reed stated that he did not understand why Mr. Kennedy would have to increase costs to the students when there has been no increase in cost to him. Rent has not increased from the town.
Councilor Perkins stated that Mr. Kennedy’s letter seem to be one of frustration, frustration on the care of the building and the security of the building. He felt Mr. Kennedy had the right to be frustrated.
ITEM 6a. Updated Highway Projects List
Town Engineer Travis Noyes stated he would provide a formal list of roads at the next meeting but verbally went over them with the Town Council. There was discussion on the conditions of Longmeadow Drive and Shore Road. It was noted that they may not want to put any money into the Shore Road where it was originally intended to be a dirt road and there are complaints of speeding on it.
Councilor Olson asked for existing complaints on roads to be provided to the Council if they were available.
Councilor Perkins commented a few years ago we gave CES Inc. more $70,000 to do a road assessment without putting the project out to bid. In hindsight, he thought that awarding such a large project should require a competitive bidding process in the future.
ITEM 6b. Engineering RFQ - Discussion
Manager Reed outlined that at the last Council meeting there was a request made for staff to estimate the coming year’s engineering costs. Manager Reed went over the projected costs for QA/QC, community center and storm water.
There was discussion on storm water and who could do the work. It was outlined that storm water was 20 percent of the former CEO’s job and currently no one is doing the work. CES Inc. continues to do all of the permitting. It was the consensus to have Manager Reed, Public Works Superintendent Brian Stoyell, Sewer District Superintendent Gary Brooks and Phil Ruck of CES Inc. meet and discuss an economical way to handle the storm water requirements. Manager Reed will report back at the end of September.
ITEM 7. Additions by Council
There were no additions.
ITEM 8. Manager’s Report
The Town Council reviewed the following items:
a. Assessor’s report and coming year’s work plan.
Chairman Friedman wished to thank Assessor Birch for getting the tax bills out so quickly.
ITEM 9. Requests for Information and Town Council Comments
Councilor Parker inquired on how things were going with code enforcement. Manager Reed stated that Brian Stoyell has been handling most of the code enforcement.
Chairman Friedman inquired whether there was any truth to the rumor that the assistant fire chief had resigned. Manager Reed stated that the assistant fire chief had indeed resigned.
Councilor Olson stated that she wished to get copies of the recordings for the July 18th and August 1st meetings. Deputy Clerk Karen Morin stated that the files were large and if Councilor Olson could bring in a USB drive that would work best.
Councilor Perkins inquired on who handled the bidding process when the Town had acquired properties through foreclosure. Manager Reed stated that it is handled by the office.
ITEM 10. Review of Town Warrants 5, 5A and Town Payroll 5
ITEM 11. Adjournment: Motion: Councilor King—to adjourn the August 29, 2011 Town Council Meeting. Seconded: Councilor Olson. There was no further discussion. Voted 5-0. Meeting adjourned 8:16 pm.
A true record, Attest:
Karen Morin
Deputy Clerk
Town of Veazie
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